Automatic garage door operator



D. PALUMBO 2,184,649

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 28, 1958INVENTOR. L UMBO.

ATTORNEY.

DON/4T0 PA BY I D. PALUMBO AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 28,1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 00AM? 70 ALl/MZBO.

D. PALUMBO 2,184,649

AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 28, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3"TW'HI M 3" HIMQ Wu" 11 1" A TTORNEY.

D. PALUMBQ AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 28, '1938 4Sheets-Sheet 4 1N VENTOR. OM50.

BY Z70/VA 70 P44 ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPERATORD'onato Palumbo, Pueblo, 0010., assignor to American Automatic GarageDoor, Inc., Pueblo, (1010., a corporation of Colorado Application June28, 1938, Serial No. 216,242

Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic garage door operating device andhas for its principal object the provision of a simple, mechanicalstructure, by means of which the weight of an automobile will beemployed for automatically opening and closing the garage doors, and forlocking the same when the car is in the garage, and to provide means forlocking the garage doors as the car leaves the garage without it beingnecessary for the driver to leave his position in the car.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention reference ishadto the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawings and throughout thedescription.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a one-half plan view of the automobile driveway into a garage,illustrating a top view'of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operating mechanism positioned above thegarage doors.

Fig. 4 is an inside elevation of the mechanism above the doorsillustrating the latter in the locked position. 1

Fig. 5 is an inside view of the door operating mechanism illustratingthe doors in the open position.

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on the line 6-6, Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a similar detail section taken on the line 'l--l, Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a similar detail view taken on the line 88, Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustratingthe outside locking mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a detail view of one of the operating treadles.

Fig. 11 is a plan View of an alternate form of the invention applied toordinary hinged garage doors.

Fig. 12 is an inside elevation of the form of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a detail section taken on the line l3l3, Fig. 11,illustrating the locking means for the alternate form of Figs. 11 and12.

The interior of the garage is designated by the numeral H1 and theexterior driveway is designated by the numeral ll.

The invention could be used with a single swinging door but it is moreparticularly designed for use with double swinging doors such as indi-.cated at l2 and I3.

The doors l2 and it are mounted upon vertical doorshafts l4 and I5,respectively. Each shaft is journaled at the top and bottom of the doorand the doors are fixed to the shafts so as to swing therewith. Theshafts extend above the doors and terminate in cranks IS.

The cranks it of the two doors are connected together above the doors bymeans of a cross bar ll, the extremities, of which, are pivoted to thecranks in slottedopenings l8. At one side of the door opening, avertical-operating shaft 99 is positioned, terminating at its top in anarm which is connected by means of a connecting rod 2 lwith the crossbar H. The cranks it are faced in opposite directions so that movementof the cross bar ll will swing the doors in opposite directions.

The operating shaft [9 is journaled at its bottom in a step bearing 22and adjacent its bottom carries two fixed cross arms 23 and 24. Thelower cross arm 23 is connected. by means of operating rods 25 and 26with crank shafts 21 and 28, respectively. The crank shafts arepreferably journaled on a foundation plate 3! which can be imbedded orotherwise secured in the driveway. The rods 25 and 26 and theextremities of the crank shafts 2'! and 28 are enclosed within asuitable protecting and concealing box 29 alongside of the driveway H. a

Each of the crank shafts forms a part of a treadle. Each treadleconsists of two inclined plates 30 hinged at their one extremity to anofiset portion in the crank shafts. A leaf spring 32 is secured to thefoundation plate 3| and acts vto urge the offset portion of the crankshaft upwardly. All of the treadles employed in the invention are of thesame construction and all are positioned in the line of travel of thewheels at one side of the automobile. The upper cross arm 24 isconnected to a .pair of operating rods 33 and 34 which extend to crankshafts 35 and 36 respectively on the interior of the garage. These crankshafts also form part of two interior treadles similar to thosepreviously described. The rods 33 and 34 and the cranks of the crankshafts are concealed in the interior box 37.

The four treadles, for convenience, in description, will bedesignated-A, B, C, and D reading from left to right in Fig. l. A and Dare closing treadles and B and C are opening treadles. It can be readilyseen that an automobile approaching the closed garage will first passits'wheels over the closing treadle A and will tend to exert a clockwisedirection of rotation to the shaft l9 which will act through theconnecting rod 2| to push both doors toward the closed position in whichthey are already resting.

The wheels will then pass over the opening treadle B which will act torotate the shaft ill in a counter-clockwise direction to cause theshaft, through the arm 23 and the connecting rod 2 I, to pull upon thecrank I B to swing both doors to the open position. The car will thenenter the garage and its front wheel will pass over the opening treadleC which, being connected to impart a counter-clockwise direction to theshaft l9, will tend to urge the doors open. This wheel will then passonto the closing treadle D depressing the latter and rotating the shaftis to swing the doors to the closed position.

In removing the car from the garage, the front wheel leaves the treadleD and passes onto the treadle C depressing the latter to rotate theshaft is counter-clockwise so as to swing the doors open. The wheelsthen pass over the opening treadle B without effect and onto the closingtreadle A to swing the doors to the closed position.

Of course, as long as the cars weight remains on the treadle D, it willbe impossible for anyone to open the garage doors and the latter areeffectively locked.

Additional locking means are provided, how ever, for locking the doorsin either the open or closed positions. The additional locking meansconsist of a notched lock bar 38 which is connected at one extremity toa lever 39 on the operating shaft i9, so that it slides alternately tothe left and right as the shaft reciprocates.

- A latch bolt ti! rides upon the lock bar 38. The

latch bolt 53 is suspended from a pivoted member 41 which is constantlyurged downwardly by means of a tension spring '52. A notch 43 is formedin the bar 38 adjacent the bolt Gil.

When the doors are in the closed position, the notch 413 is below thebolt iii allowing it to be projected downwardly through a suitable hasp6 on the inner door l2, thus, securely locking the doors closed. Whenthe door is moved to the open position, the notch is drawn from belowthe bolt until the latter is raised out of the hasp 44.

An arcuate latch member is also secured to the door i2 and rides below asecond locking bolt 66. The member a5 is provided with an opening whichregisters below the bolt 66 when the doors are fully open to lock thelatter in this position.

A second notch 4'! is formed in the bar 38 to allow the bolt (in to movedownwardly under the influence of a spring d8 when the doors are in thefullyopened position. Thus, it can be seen the doors may be similarlylocked in either the closed or open position so that they cannot beswung closed accidently.

Means may be provided for locking the doors closed after the car hasleft the garage. Such a means is illustrated in Fig. 9 in which aperforated locking bar 45 is projected forwardly from the rod 26 througha guide member 50. A key operated lock 5! is supported upon a hollowstandar' 52 above the slide member 50. This lock, when actuated with akey, acts to raise or lower a locking rod 53 to and from the perforationin the bar 49. When this rod is in place in one of these perforations,it is impossible to operate the door mechanism.

It is, of course, necessary that the doors be unlocked before they canbe either opened or closed. This is provided for by the slotted holesiii in the cranks l6 which allow the shaft I9 to make a partialrotation, sufficient to withdraw the locking bar 38, before it acts torotate the cranks 16 thereby allowing a preliminary move ment to unlockthe latches 40 and 46. The pull rods 25, 26, 33, and 34 are providedwith turnbuckles 54 by means of which their lengths can be accuratelyadjusted to bring the treadles to the proper operating position.

The invention is not limited to a door having a door shaft but can beapplied to the present hinged doors as shown in Figs. 11, 12, and 13.For this use bracket arms 55 are provided which are secured directly tothe doors, shown at 62. These bracket arms are curved so they extendinwardly when the doors are open and each arm is connected by means of aconnecting bar 56 with a pivoted equalizing lever 51 which accommodatesthe opposite movement of the two arms 55. The lever 5'! is connected bymeans of a bar 58 with the crank arm 28 on the operating shaft IS. Theoperation of the doors is similar to the previously described form.

A somewhat different construction in looking devices is shown on thealternate form consisting of a sliding, notched lock bar 59 which isreciprocated by means of a lever 68 and an operating rod 6| from thecrank arm 20. The bar operates the latch bolts similarly to theoperation of the previously described bar 38.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent 1. Means for operating a pair of swinging doors fromthe weight of a vehicle comprising: a lever connected with each door; across member connecting said levers so that said doors will swing inunison in opposite directions; a vertical shaft adjacent said doors; acrank member on said shaft; a connecting rod attached at its oneextremity to said crank member and attached at its other extremity tothe middle of said cross member so that rotation of said shaft willswing said doors; and means for rotating said shaft in consequence ofthe passage of the wheels of a vehicle.

2. Means for operating a pair of swinging doors from the weight of avehicle comprising: a lever connected with each door; a cross memberconnecting said levers so that said doors will swing inunison inopposite directions; a vertical shaft adjacent said doors; a crankmember on said shaft; a connection rod extending from said crank memberto a pivot on said cross member intermediate said levers so thatrotation of said shaft will swing said doors; a pair of treadlespositioned in alignment with each other at each side of said doors; acrank shaft rotated by the depressive movement of each treadle; a crossmember on said vertical shaft; connecting rods connecting the treadlesof each pair with opposite extremities of said cross member so that whenonetreadle is depressed, said vertical shaft will be operated to opensaid doors and when the other treadle of that pair is depressed it willrotate said shaft to close said doors.

3. Means for operating a pair of swinging doors from the weight of avehicle comprising: a lever connected with each door; a cross memberconnecting said levers so that said doors will swing in unison inopposite directions; a vertical shaft adjacent said doors; a crankmember on said shaft; a connecting rod connecting said crank member withsaid cross member so that rotation of said shaft will swing said doors;means for rotating said shaft in consequence of the passage of thewheels of a vehicle; a latch bolt for locking said doors in the closedposition; and a locking bar operatively connected with said verticalshaft so as to be reciprocated thereby, said bar acting to withdraw saidlatch bolt prior to the opening operation of said doors.

4. Means for operating a pair of swinging doors from the weight of avehicle comprising: a lever connected with each door; a cross memberconnecting said levers so that said doors will swing in unison inopposite directions; a vertical shaft adjacent said doors; a crankmember on said shaft; a connecting rod connecting said crank member withsaid cross member so that rotation of said shaft will swing said doors;means for rotating said shaft in consequence of the passage of thewheels of a vehicle; a latch bolt for locking said doors in the closedposition; a locking bar operatively connected with said vertical shaftso as to be reciprocated thereby, said bar acting to withdraw said latchbolt prior to the opening operation of said doors; a second latch bolt;means for engaging said second latch bolt when said doors are in theopen position; and means on said latch bar for moving said second latchbolt from its locking position prior to the closing of said doors.

5. Means for operating a pair of swinging doors from'the weight of avehicle comprising: a lever connected with each door; a cross memberconnecting said levers so that said doors will swing in unison inopposite directions; a vertical shaft adjacent said doors; a. crankmember on said shaft; a connection rod extending from said crank memberto a pivot on said cross member intermediate said levers so thatrotation of said shaft will swing said doors; a pair of treadlespositioned in alignment with each other at each side of said door; acrank shaft rotated by the depressive movement of each treadle; a crossmember on said vertical shaft; connecting rods connecting the treadlesof each pair with opposite extremities of said cross member so that whenone treadle is depressed, said vertical shaft will be operated to opensaid doors and when the other treadle of that pair is depressed it willrotate said shaftto close said doors; a perforated locking barprojecting from the connecting rod that closes the doors; a guide memberto receive said locking'bar; a hollow standard perpendicularly mountedon said guide member; a locking rod in said standard; a lock carried onthe upper extremity of said standard to engage or disengage said lockingrod with said perforations.

DONATO PALUMBO.

